


Rising Passion, Falling Fever

by Kisuru



Series: Fictober [5]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Comfortween2020, F/F, Fever, Hurt/Comfort, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:33:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,917
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27129289
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kisuru/pseuds/Kisuru
Summary: The war battles continue on the frontlines while Sakura and Karin care for injured patients. After spending time together, their mutual feelings of love bud. But when one thing leads to another one night during their routine patient check-ups, Karin notices Sakura overworks herself all day. Sakura develops a fever. It's up to Karin to assure her that she will take care of her.Written for Day 1 of Comfortween with the prompt "Too Hot!".
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Karin
Series: Fictober [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1503560
Kudos: 7
Collections: Comfortween 2020





	Rising Passion, Falling Fever

**Author's Note:**

> Here I am with a late fill for Day 1 of Comfortween. The prompt Is "1. Too Hot!" and Karin tries to help Sakura cool down. Not too dramatic, I don’t think.
> 
> This fic takes place anywhere there's fighting and the need for the medic ninja to take care of them. I imagine a war happening in the background.

The steadfast green glow surrounding Sakura's hands slowly dissipated. The bulbs from the dim overhead lamps offered enough light for Sakura to inspect the neatly stitched wound on the patient's arm. Once she was done, she wound up the scar with a bandage.  
  
With each bend of Sakura's wrists, Karin noticed her attempts to re-wrap the scar twice; the gauze pad that lined the bandage for extra bloodflow catch fell to the side in an almost imperceptible oversight. To Karin’s hawk-like eyes, her movements teetered on concern. She couldn’t miss the sight after three consecutive check-ups.  
  
Pushing herself to keep her hands in-check, Sakura's jaw tightened as she followed the scar’s trail. The wound was just too long, a battlefield memory that would be etched on his skin for months to come. She only afforded herself the chance to stave off her exhaustion once the end of the bandage was tied into a knot – perhaps a little too snug of a knot, if the man’s grimace was indication.  
  
Karin pursed her lips, holding back on interrupting the check-up, clutching the clipboard in her hands. She could hold it in. She would. Right after this, she would speak up without a doubt.  
  
“You should be fine now. Don't exert yourself, or let your wounds reopen,” Sakura advised. She patted a loose bandage edge into place and offered a smile. “We'll see how the skin is healing in the morning.”  
  
The man lying on the bed opened his mouth to reply. He made a hissing sound before his eyes closed and fell straight to sleep, likely due to his pain medication.  
  
Satisfied with the results, Sakura wobbled to her feet. Her arms were drained and limp from expelling chakra all day. Her eyes were slightly unfocused after staring at pools of blood from continuous battlefield walk-ins and examining chakra pathways. With time, she had to build up more long-term stamina. She had trained and trained herself day and night… but she had to build her healing reserves up like a fortress.  
  
“Can you write that down?” Sakura turned on her heel towards Karin. What was she missing? Had she forgotten something? Forgetting details could be disastrous for his health. Where her thoughts should be, a fog occupied the demanding space in her brain. “Stable. Infection might be possible if the wound is not cleaned properly.” Right, his overall condition covered the report.  
  
Karin's grip tightened on the guard of her pen. Yes, she couldn't fail her job. She had jumped up and down to do so she could be close to Sakura and watch over her – but she also couldn't overlook this! Sakura was her top priority! Hurriedly, she scribbled a few lines on the patient medical chart.  
  
Before Karin was finished writing, Sakura led them both out of the large tent for casualties. The crescent moon hung above the treetops and bleached out the light of the stars behind its disk. Sakura walked next door to the tent for medical personnel. She pulled the curtain for the tent open, holding it for Karin to follow her inside the cool room.  
  
Karin bit on the end of her pen. She cleared her throat, filling her tone with as much sternness as possible. “You haven't given yourself a chance to sit for hours.”  
  
“Oh, that? I rested... a half hour ago? Forty minutes ago? In any case, it wasn't that long ago. I can go on for a bit longer.” Sakura checked the wall clock above the supplies station. Her memories of events were fuzzy, but she spared time for rest no matter what she was doing to process each situation. Long healing sessions often blended into reserved quiet breathers.  
  
“For a whole minute,” Karin said. She nibbled the plastic pen cap, harder and harder to vent frustration, knowing she couldn't raise her voice. She would disturb the tent – but she was so fired up!  
  
“Was... it that short? Are you sure? You noticed? It wasn't like that,” Sakura said. To ward off tension, she laughed. “It wasn't that bad. I listened to you when you reminded me, didn't I?'  
  
“I told you ten minutes of rest with the time we had,” Karin said, crunching down the pen so hard it creaked, “and no less!“ Should Karin have had her way, though, convincing Sakura to rest for an hour would be a task easier said than done. She would tuck her into bed so her droopy eyelids found solace in sleep. But sleep during a war was a luxury.  
  
Sakura's laugh petered off. Sheepishly, she shrugged. “Next time it will be longer?”  
  
Karin's glare was zeroed-in on her without mercy. Sakura stomach's did a shocked somersault of delight. She did a double take, though, because the anger wasn’t what captured her attention. The veil of softness behind the anger swirling in Karin’s eyes did.  
  
Why should she be happy? She was being scolded! Above all, she… Karin cared. Sakura was always pleased when she watched over her. Sakura’s chest pitter-pattered with the desire to scream! Playing it cool was the best way. She turned her head to shield a blush. “I'm thankful for everything, really! We had to rush to the main tent for instruction back then. It couldn't be helped. Okay... Karin-chan, I know it bothers you. I know.”  
  
“Well... As long as you understand the situation,” Karin said, worried thoughts lifting. She was reluctant to look away from Sakura's face – something at the corner of her eye tipped her off that an abnormality was present, her face a touch too pink – but she peered to the side. It must be the humid air. Karin couldn't get her hopes up too high for a stupendous, heart-encompassing confession of love… She picked at the hem of her shirt, restless, sighing dreamily. If only.  
  
“Of course I do,” Sakura said. “Keep that worrying up. I'll worry that I've given you too much to keep up with me as my assistant.”  
  
“I can handle anything you throw at me! Anything at all!” Karin’s chest puffed out proudly. The twinkle in Sakura's eye made her bunch up the shirt in her fist, more fired up than ever. “My energy is boundless.”  
  
“Good to know I can count on you,” Sakura mused.  
  
As though mimicking the warm, singsong-filled feeling Sakura couldn't help but cherish when Karin was near her, she emanated the same energy Karin spoke of. Humming to herself, she swiped a towel from the rack next to the station's sink and wiped stray blood droplets on a towel to clean in between her fingers.  
  
Sakura couldn't work herself ragged. Shizune might overhear their conversation, and she would have her hide for wasting her talent irresponsibly. Compared to Karin's ferocious, no-nonsense concern outbursts flooding the deepest places in he heart, however, Shizune's voice was a mere pin dropping in the wind.  
  
Sakura counted on her!? Her own dependability sent Karin straight to longing, her lips twisting into a smirk of approval. She truly felt like she could burst through the tent’s ceiling and fly until she reached the moon!  
  
To keep her own energy up, Karin grabbed an apple for a snack, munching on the skin. The cool, refreshing juices inside the apple clashed with the burning fire on the tip of her tongue (of the said and the unsaid declarations of how she would follow her anywhere, anytime, anyplace). Karin found the taste of the apple to be all the sweeter for it.  
  
“Tomorrow we have to start our shift earlier, so we have to be ready,” Sakura said.

Karin took another bite of the apple, leaning against the edge of a table. “It’s already this late. Shouldn’t we do adjustments on the schedule so we can keep the workload less hectic?”  
  
Sakura turned the handle for the station’s sink. She doused water on her towel, placed it back on her hands, and scrubbed at a spot of dried blood. With each scrap of cloth, her blood pulsed in her veins. She didn’t know why this one task had such an affect on her. Her knees swayed under her and she leaned on the hard sink edge. “Don’t you think we’re on time? We're finishing up roughly before late night shift. I can handle the workload as it is. Besides, they're doing the brunt of heavy lifting outside.”  
  
As if to accentuate her point, a boom sounded from outside in the far distance. The ground shook with small aftershocks; the iron bars securing down the rest tent's skeleton rattled.  
  
Karin clutched the half-eaten apple core in her hands. The sound was as routine as listening to the cicadas chirp on the trees; both the cicadas sung and fighting raged well into the midnight hours. But with every blast that rocked under their feet, more people could be injured, brought to the tents for vigorous examination.  
  
Sakura tried to brighten up. “I only have one more patient to look at before the night shift takes over anyway!” As soon as she spoke, a dash of pain shot through the front of her head. Even though she channeled as much assurance as she could into her voice, her tone fell flat. She reached out to grab the sink handle and turn off the water. The pounding sound echoed in her ears, banging against her eardrums. “Let's do it. Work on… shorter... the... workload. Then...”  
  
Karin was quicker than Sakura. The moment her voice faltered and the handle on the sink slammed down and shut the water off, she was fully alert.  
  
In her haste to reach her in time, both the clipboard and apple clattered on the floor.  
  
Gravity pulled Sakura’s body down. She lost her footing and the world circled. Shutting her eyes, she expected the landing to hurt. Something soft wrapped around her side. It didn’t take her long to realize, with the shock of unruly red hair against her arm, who was right there.  
  
Bridging the gap between them, Karin sidled up to Sakura. Instinct told her what it was. Suddenly, the pink tinge on her face clicked. She placed her hand across her forehead and brushed away her hair. When their skin made contact, her arm shook.  
  
“You're burning up.”  
  
“I'm not,” Sakura protested. She shook her head, trying to evade the palm of Karin’s hand again. “I’m not hot…”  
  
Karin didn’t know what exactly came over her. Perhaps the onslaught of dread and adrenaline added to her straightforwardness. She grabbed Sakura’s wrist. Her skin was still smooth as silk yet a tad wet from the rinse of water. Even there, she was warm to the touch. She placed the back of Sakura’s hand on her own forehead to prove her point, waiting to see her reaction change.  
  
Mystified with the intrusion of heat touching the tips of her fingers, Sakura was struck speechless. She was right the entire time, and she should have paid more attention to her the gradual symptoms; her forehead was a small furnace.  
  
“See, this is what I mean about overexerting yourself!” Karin said.  
  
The anger co close to her ears made Sakura wince. Realizing what she did, Karin put the pedal on. “Sorry about that, sorry.”  
  
“No, you’re just telling me the truth,” Sakura said.  
  
Taking Sakura’s arm, she started to drag her away from the sink without further ado. The discarded towel hanging off the sink’s edge fell on the floor where Sakura stood seconds ago.  
  
Karin lowered her into the seat of a tall chair. Heavily, Sakura leaned back against the creaky wood, her body achy and hot down her neck. It hurt her all at once. Had she been so hot the entire time? She hadn’t been truthful! Now, she had made herself into a liar! It was wrong of her. She had told Karin she gave herself enough time to wave off the stresses of a busy day.  
  
For an agonizing minute, Karin fretted about what she should do. Should she take Sakura to one of the beds? Call another medic? Biting her probably wouldn’t cure her heatstroke as fast as she would want it to… Would it? Should she try?  
  
As if to test her hypothesis, she chewed on her lip. Annoyed with herself, she held back on taking the plunge, though she wanted to go ahead. No, fevers were relieved in other ways.  
  
Karin spotted a row of white rectangular cases on the floor in the room’s corner. After ensuring Sakura was seated properly, she kneeled next to one of the cases and yanked it open. Rations of cold food and water were inside. Water…? If that was stored in the coolers, then there should be… should be… It would do for her hands.  
  
Sakura’s eyes shut. She listened to Karin’s rustling and mumbling to herself. Her mind was elsewhere. She thought, for that long pause of silence, she should tell someone to check on that last patient. She couldn’t disappoint them because she was reckless. That patient’s vitals needed to be checked regularly, so she couldn’t be late to their bedside.  
  
Something cold touched Sakura’s palm. She jumped in her seat, nearly tumbling out of the chair and dropping the water bottle.  
  
Karin’s hand landed on her shoulder and kept her still. “No wonder you kept going without noticing you have a fever. You’re so on-edge.”  
  
“I…? Maybe you’re right.”  
  
The ice-cold mist on the water bottle grazed her skin. The temperature was… so quaint, so refreshing. She uncapped the lid and sipped. The water drizzled down her parched and tight throat. Immediately, her insides were reinvigorated, startling her body at the same time. The water was cold enough to numb and rub at the raw heat until she was twice as dizzy. Sakura fathomed what the true meaning of “freezer burn” meant.  
  
“That hits the spot. I don’t feel overheated anymore, but… I’m still hot. Yeah, it’ll take some time. I… forgot to drink enough to keep up my hydration. That’s also my fault,” Sakura said. Another checkmark against herself that she had to work on with due time and effort. She slumped forward. “And one more thing. Do you—“  
  
“It’s not your fault! I’ll have to carry water bottles with us next time. This won’t happen again! Ten bottles, or twenty bottles. Any size! By the way, I have what you want right here!”  
  
Sakura had the barest moment to imagine Karin juggling water bottles in her hands, on her shoulders, and… anywhere else she could be creative with. She stifled a giggle. But once she pressed the slippery compress to the back of Sakura’s hands, she clamped her mouth shut. She placed her hands side-by-side under the compress’ weight for it to comfortably lay out on her wrists.  
  
After a minute, she realized her mistake. The sharp sting of gel was too much stimulation as well. As the medic, she controlled the temperature so the body didn’t reaction in an uneven rise and fall of shock too abruptly. Doing so might cause more harm than good; Sakura dialed down the pressure, or temperature, if a patient was overwhelmed. Karin hadn’t mastered that yet.  
  
Simultaneously, Karin was struck with how their positions had reversed.  
  
Sakura was her patient…!  
  
While she pressed the compress against her skin, Karin’s fingers were frostbitten. Feeling aghast – of course a compress would freeze her, what else should she have expected! – she tilted her head backwards. She didn’t need Sakura to remind her of things twice.  
  
Karin resisted the urge to slap her own forehead. Before Sakura spoke up, she retreated back to the towel rack. She was so out of sorts she knocked the low rack over. Of course the towels on the lowest shelf tumbled and scattered across the floor. “Uaaah! No way? Seriously! Why!?”  
  
No, Karin didn’t have time for dumb little mistakes!  
  
Sakura blinked at the commotion. She glanced up in time to see Karin fighting with a mass of clean towels, trying to hang them across the metal rod. She smiled despite how goofy the display was. Her forehead crinkling made her aware of a dull ache at the back of her head, but she was much happier. “Be careful.”  
  
Even in the chaos, Karin picked up the towel Sakura had used earlier and tossed it in the discard bin upon seeing the blood smudges. This sobered her frustration. There was no time. She returned to her side, calming herself down.  
  
The compress landed on Sakura’s hand again. This time, the ice-cold compress was muted from the unpleasant feeling of having her bare skin covered in pure snow. The pack was wrapped in a thin, wet washcloth, but the cold still scraped the throbbing vein on the back of her hand and main chakra flow points.  
  
Sakura gritted her teeth. She was impressed with her quick thinking, but the compress did its job better than she expected. “Oww..”  
  
“Still no good? I keep messing it up, don’t I?”  
  
“This time, it is good. It just hurts… in a good way,” Sakura said blandly, falling short on how to describe it. The chakra point’s angry ebbing and convulsing was trapped under the gentle chill wrapped around her hand. “I wasn't prepared.”  
  
Sakura sighed outwardly, disappointed in herself. She would be okay now that she couldn’t continue ignoring the signs, but… In the peace of the moment, she regretted her actions. If she couldn't handle stress and concentration on this scale, replenishing her chakra vital points for emergency and strengthening her mental fortitude along with it, what else was she waiting for?  
  
Karin pulled the compress back to adjust its position. When she moved it to the left, Sakura’s hand twitched. When she moved it to the right, she fidgeted, nearly knocking the cloth out of Karin’s loose grip.  
  
“Like this, here,” Sakura said, barely able to stand the awkwardness anymore.  
  
Sakura took Karin’s hand into hers. She cupped her palm and the compress. Hovering Karin’s hand above her other hand, she placed it in the smack-dab center. The coldness settled into her skin and veins, gently soothing her frazzled chakra point better than ever. Karin’s hand was practically sizzling with warmth this time now that she stayed still. It was an addictive kind of warmth. She didn’t want to let go of her hands then. She was too exhausted, too half-lost in thought, but the implications re-energized Sakura like a battery. How long could she hold her thoughts in? Should she say her truest feelings and put it on the table?  
  
It was about time! She hated keeping it in for so long! She didn’t want to enhance the awkwardness between them as coworkers when she wasn’t sure.  
  
With her free hand, Karin reached for another chair, plopping down in it. She couldn’t bear to move away too far away – Sakura was irresistibly close. What had come over her!? Karin stiffened. But… Sakura inviting her so close was welcomed. Was it selfish to think of something like that at a time like this? But… Closing off her feelings would be an impossibility. She scooted it as close to Sakura’s side as possible.  
  
Karin's out-of-control heartbeat accelerated in her chest. Sakura's face was unbearably close, and her heart may beat out of her chest and leap the space. Sakura wasn’t a stranger to this feeling now that she caught her breath; Karin’s gaze gave her a second fever of protective feelings.  
  
“When you use so much chakra and pour it into wounds and repair the chakra networks,” Karin asked, both curious and willing to break the silence, “doesn’t it hurt after a while like this… on average?” She already had been here long enough to know the answers to these questions, but Sakura’s direct answer was what she cared about.  
  
“I’m too focused to notice that. You get used to the push and flow.” Sakura could explain many things to Karin; the technicalities and training were all difficult. Oddly, despite her sadness a moment ago, the question gave her renewed hope. To her delight, she would understand, but she didn’t have the brainpower to launch into everything.  
  
Seeing this, Karin shifted gears. “Do you want me to switch the compress to another spot? I can get it.”  
  
“It’s okay where it is.”  
  
“Are you sure nowhere else hurts? Do you need more water? Do you need medicine. I can find it!”  
  
“Actually, I feel a lot better now. Sitting here helps a lot more than you know,” Sakura said. The words were filled with sincerity. Her blush resurfaced, and she was unable to hide it this time. Quickly, she slid one hand from out of the compress and lifted the water bottle to her lips. Cold water on her tongue still couldn’t cool down how pleasantly her body tingled in her grasp. “T-Thank you.”  
  
Karin was about to ramble off an entire list worth of remedies for Sakura’s fever. The words stuck in her throat with the glance that Sakura offered her. The atmosphere changed drastically, and she thought she might melt into a puddle on the spot.  
  
So engrossed was Karin that she barely registered her next action. She pulled Sakura’s hand up and squeezed it like a lifesaver. The compress shifted and glided along her fingertips. She caressed the compress like something that must be treasured, like the hand below. As her responsibility.  
  
“Ka-Ka…?” Sakura asked. She looked up at her.  
  
“You try your best every day. It’s not all your fault – you put yourself out there constantly. I have to pull myself to that level, too. Then, I’ll do everything I can for you going forward, and I’ll make sure I don’t let you end up in this state again!” Karin promised. Her eyes were a resolute oath.  
  
Stunned, Sakura stared face-to-face. Karin’s cheeky grin blasted her heart head-on. Her eyes doubled in size. Something clicked in her brain beyond the fog clouding her senses, and she realized right then and there she couldn’t let her feelings stand any longer. She had to be more upfront like her usual self. But with so much going on, time was limited for wounded shinobi.  
  
“A score for me!” Sakura whispered. Mentally, she did a fist-pump in the air.  
  
Karin swore she felt her shiver and her voice quake, but she couldn’t make it out. “What did you say?”  
  
“N-Nothing! It’s working wonders, wonders, I tell you!” Sakura said. “I look forward to it. I look forward to spending all that time with you. I’m not going to forget what you said.”  
  
“Good!”  
  
Sakura visualized herself dancing around in a happy circle. Couldn’t Karin see what she doing to her!? A heartfelt confession was warranted for her devotion – when she could think straight about what to say. Just give her a few minutes to gather her thoughts into a bundle of confident-filled words and deliver them!  
  
Important matters returned to her mind. Time to stall.  
  
“Can you pass the news on I couldn’t make it to the last patient?” Sakura asked. “The other supervisor on shift will look up the chart, or send out the next medic.”  
  
“Roger!” Karin said.  
  
Carefully, Karin released Sakura’s hand, cupping the compress on her hand one last time before leaving. Retrieving the discarded clipboard on the floor, she dusted a patch of soil off, racing towards the door.  
  
Their gazes locked on each other’s for a long minute.  
  
Many, many words would be exchanged once they were alone together for the night.

**Author's Note:**

> The story a bit longer than I expected. I especially tried to get Karin and Sakura's personalities down as I could, so I hope that worked out. I teased a bit for a confession, I know. I wanted to play around with the pining and overall feeling of them being close. If it got you to want the confession, too, I’ve done my job.


End file.
